Pretied necktie



May 4, 1965 L. L. LESS PRETIED NECKTIE Original Filed Oct. 4, 1962 INYENTOR Louls L. Less BYZ' ATTORNEY 5 United States Patent 3,181,175 PRETIED NECKTIE Louis L. Less, Clinton, Iowa, assignor to One-In-Hand Tie Company, Clinton, Iowa, a partnership of Iowa Original application Oct. 4, 1962, Ser. No. 228,378, now Patent No. 3,167,784, dated Feb. 2, 1965. Divided and this application Aug. 19-, 1964, Ser. No. 390,705 3 Claims. (Cl. 2-150) This invention relates to necktics, and more particu-.

larly to neckties formed from .a knot-forming device and a closed loop of necktie material. This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 228,378, filed October 4, 1952, now Patent 3,167,784, issued February 2, 1965.

An object of this invention is to provide an article of neckwear which is easily and readily assembled. A further object is to provide articles of neckwear of new and unusual appearance.

In order that the manner in which the foregoing and other objects are attained in accordance with the invention can be understood in detail, one advantageous embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a loop of mateiral used to fabricate the tie portion of the neckwear shown in the embodiment of FIGS. and 6;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational View of a knot-forming device which may be used in the construction of neckwear in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 3 shows a first step in the combination of the knotforming device of FIG. 2 and the loop of material of FIG. 1 to form the tie portion of the neckwear embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a further step in the fabrication of the tie portion of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of one embodiment of neckwear constructed in accordance with this invention; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a portion of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5.

While the neckwear formed in the manner specified in this invention may be of any length, an advantageous embodiment concerns a shorty tie, with or without an ornament depending from the end of the tie. While conventional ties have varying lengths, they customarily extend from the neck of the wearer down to a point close to the top of his pants (or the top of his belt). There are various shorty type ties on the market, but these are invariably of the string type; that is, they are constructed of a very thin or string-like material, and do not use a conventional knot. They are clearly distinguishable from, and not at all related to, the conventional four-in-hand tie. The neckwear of this and many other embodiments of this invention, on the contrary, provides a knot and depending tie portion which is identical in appearance to the conventional four-in-hand tie in every respect save for its length. The unique appearance is obtained by making the length of the tie, from the top of the knot (which is normally the same as the top of a collar of the wearer) to the bottom of the depending portion, substantially less than half the distance from the top of the collar to the top of the pants (or top of the belt) of a normal adult wearer. The length may typically be about five or six inches.

The tie of the embodiment of FIG. 5 may be formed of a knot-forming device 7 of conventional configuration (FIG. 2) and a loop of material 1 (FIG. 1). The knotforming device 7 may be seen from FIG. 2 to comprise an Patented May 4, 1965 inverted frusto-conical portion 2 defined by converging sides 3, a bottom edge 4 and a top edge 5. From the upper corners of inverted frusto-conical portion 2, two arms 6 extend upwardly and outwardly, and are adapted to fit under the collar of the wearer in a well-known manner. As may be seen from FIG. 1, loop 1 is formed of a strip of material having a half twist in it. It thus forms what is known in mathematics as a Mobius strip, that is, a strip having only one continuous edge and one continuous side.

Referring now to FIG. 3, in assembling loop 1 upon knot-form device 7, a portion 8 of the loop is passed across the front of inverted frutso-conical portion 2. Loop 1 is then folded upwardly and to the rear along converging sides 3. The folded end 9 of the loop will then extend upwardly behind knot-forming device 7. The next step, as shown in FIG. 4, is to bring folded end 9 down and pass it between front portion 8 of the loop and inverted frusto-conical portion 2 of the knot-forming device. The passage of the end 9 of loop 1 thusly is shown in the successive solidand dotted line positions of FIG. 4. End 9 of loop 1 is then pulled down to its fullest extent, as the rest of the loop is molded into knot 10. By providing loop 1 in the form of a Mobius strip, with a half twist, it is possible to assemble this tie as just described in a simple and easy operation. The use of this method and the use of the particular configuration of loop 1 is not restricted to use only with the particular knot-forming device shovwr in FIG. 2, but may be used with any of the conventional knot-forming devices which have a main body portion with two upwardly and outwardly extending arms.

In the neckwear embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the necktie has a depending portion fashioned of a continuous loop of material, there being a front portion 11 and a rear portion (or tail portion) 15 joined along a fold 16 at the bottom. A medallion 12 is attached to the bottom of the depending portion by means of arms 13 extending outwardly and upwardly from the rear of the medallion, to which they are attached, and whose ends 14 are bent inwardly and engage fold 16 at the bottom of the tie. The ends 14 of arms 13 are spaced apart to provide for detachable mounting, and the tie may be worn either with or without the ornament.

While one advantageous embodiment has been chosen to illustrate the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that vairous changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A pretied necktie comprising, in combination,

an endless piece of necktie material extending as a closed loop having a one-half twist; and

a knot-shaping support having an upper edge, a front and a back,

the material of said endless piece including a portion passing across the front of said support from side to side thereof and extending rearwardly at both sides of said support, the remainder of said endless piece extending from behind said support over the top thereof and thence downwardly between said portion and the front of said support and depending from said support in the form of front and back necktie body portions joined together in a transverse fold line, said fold line being spaced below said support and constituting the lower end of the necktie.

2. A pretied necktie comprising, in combination,

an endless piece of fabric extending as a Mobius strip;

and

means;

a knot-shaping support having a body portion'having a front, a back, and a top, V

a portion of said endless piece extending across the front of said support from side to side thereof and turning rearwardly at both sides of said sup-.

port, 7

the remainder of said endless piece extending from behind said support over the top thereof and thence downwardly between said portion and the front of said support to depend from said 10 support in the form of depending front and back necktie body portions joined together in a transverse fold line, said fold line being spaced below said support and constituting the lower end of the necktie.

3. A necktie according to claim 2, wherein the lengths of said body portions are such that, when said support is disposed at the collar of the average wearer, said fold line is located at a point substantially less than half the distance from the wearers 5 collar to the wearers belt line.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS p2,931,045 4/60 France 2-153 FOREIGN PATENTS 70,502 11/15 Austria.

467,469 7 12/51 Italy. 894,954 4/62 Great Britain.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A PRETIED NECKTIE COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, AN ENDLESS PIECE OF NECKTIE MATERIAL EXTENDING AS A CLOSED LOOP HAVING A ONE-HALF TWIST; AND A KNOT-SHAPING SUPPORT HAVINT AN UPPER EDGE, A FRONT AND A BACK, THE MATERIAL OF SAID ENDLESS PIECE INCLUDING A PORTION PASSING ACROSS THE FRONT OF SAID SUPPORT FROM SIDE TO SIDE THEREOF AND EXTENDING REARWARDLY AT BOTH SIDES OF SAID SUPPORT, THE REMAINDER OF SAID ENDLESS PIECE EXTENDING FROM BEHIND SAID SUPPORT OVER THE TOP THEREOF AND THENCE DOWNWARDLY BETWEEN SAID PORTION AND THE FRONT OF SAID SUPPORT AND DEPENDING FROM SAID SUPPORT IN THE FORM OF FRONT AND BACK NECKTIE BODY PORTIONS JOINED TOGETHER IN A TRANSVERSE FOLD LINE, SAID FOLD LINE BEING SPACED BELOW SAID SUPPORT AND CONSTITUTING THE LOWER END OF THE NECKTIE. 